Falcons vs. Lions: Takeaways

“The following situations result in a 10-second game clock runoff if the team in possession of the ball is trailing or the game is tied and the team in possession of the ball has no timeouts remaining in that half. If there are 10 seconds or less left in the half or game, the half or game is ended by such runoff:

Replay reviews in a situation where the clock would not have stopped without the review”

Lifted straight from the NFL rulebook, by definition, the referees made the right call at the end of the Falcons-Lions game at Ford Field.

It just looked ugly.

The Atlanta Falcons fended off the Detroit Lions 30-26 in a battle of 2-0 teams that did not lack controversy at the end.

The Lions thought they had secured another fourth-quarter comeback when Matthew Stafford hit Golden Tate for a go-ahead one-yard touchdown with eight seconds left.

The only problem was that after review, it was concluded that his knee came down short of the goal line.

And the Lions were trailing. They did not have a timeout remaining in the half. There were less than ten seconds left in the half.

The rules meant that the Lions came within about six inches of beating the Falcons, but ultimately, couldn’t get over the line.

Here’s what I took from what can only be described as a surreal finish in the motor city.